View full sizeEmile Hirsch and Paul Rudd in "Prince Avalanche"Rough House Pictures

On my first day at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, I saw one filmmaker trying to paddle back from Hollywood toward indie credibility, and another go gloriously, even maddeningly, further upstream.

After a 6 a.m. flight out of Portland, and a mid-day arrival in clear, chilly Park City, the first order of business was to secure tickets to the more sought-after screenings. This is easier said than done, especially when arriving mid-way through the festival. Contrary to urban legend, a press credential is not an all-access pass, and in fact necessitates even more queuing, finagling and flexibility than that experienced by civilian attendees.

There are dedicated press and industry screenings, however, which made it possible to catch "Prince Avalanche," the latest film from director David Gordon Green. Green, who made a name for himself with lyrical efforts like "George Washington" and "All the Real Girls," veered in a more mainstream direction following the commercial disappointment of "Snow Angels." After the wacky comedies "Pineapple Express" and "The Sitter," he's back at Sundance with "Prince," a low-key adaptation of an Icelandic film about two guys (Emile Hirsch and a mustachioed Paul Rudd) working on a Texas road maintenance crew in the 1980s. It's perched about halfway between Green's two extremes, with a languid pace and visual poetry which gives way at points to goofy shenanigans.

Then there's "Upstream Color," writer-director-actor Shane Carruth's long-awaited follow-up to "Primer." Sure to divide audiences, it's a bizarre puzzle of a film which confounds and fascinates with a plot that beggars summary. (May as well try, though.) A woman is kidnapped and subjected to bizarre physical and psychological condition involving mysterious larvae, ice water, and pigs. Eventually, she's released and some time later embarks on a relationship with an enigmatic banker, with whom she seems to share a mysterious bond. With a structure and style that make the convoluted "Primer" look like "Go, Dog, Go!," it practically demands either repeat viewing or total dismissal.

After that brainmelt, it was time to rest mind and body and prepare for Wednesday, which will include a screening of the filmed-in-Oregon "C.O.G.," the Wikileaks documentary "We Steal Secrets" and the Matthew McConaughey starrer "Mud."